Posted Jun 6, 2023, 8:42 PM
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FYHA
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Houston - Wichita, KS
Posts: 3,146
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https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...Pos=0#cxrecs_s
Quote:
Neighbors of The Langley high-rise continue its long-running saga with new lawsuit
By Sofia Gonzalez – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Jun 6, 2023
The long-running saga of the so-called Ashby high-rise — which is now known as The Langley — continues with a new lawsuit, marking the latest twist in the battle.
The lawsuit, filed by neighbors of the proposed 20-story apartment tower in district court on June 2, asked a judge to determine the legitimacy of the project, Pete Patterson, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in an interview.
If a judge sides with the plaintiffs, Dallas-based StreetLights Residential, the developer behind the project, would have to go back to the drawing board, revising site plans once again.
“We're not asking for money,” said Patterson, whose practice focuses on business litigation. “We're asking the court up or down whether this development should be happening or not.”
The neighbors’ opposition centers on the outcome of a lawsuit filed in opposition of an earlier plan to build an apartment tower at 1717 Bissonnet St. Under a restrictive covenant approved by U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal in 2012, any apartment tower built on the site had to adhere to nine limitations before the project could move forward. An appeals court eventually sided with the developers in 2016, overturning another part of the original decision related to monetary damages.
Patterson said his clients believe StreetLights Residential’s revamped design does not strictly comply with the restrictive covenant. The clients’ primary concern is a pedestrian plaza that the neighbors claim is “substantively modified” from the previous plan, as well as alleged encroachments on a city right of way, he said.
Patterson said according to his experts’ opinions, there are about 8 feet encroaching in the city’s right of way on the north boundary line, or the Bissonnet Street side. In order to comply, the developers would have to push the site plan south, but then the site would be within 5 feet of the property of a plaintiff who lives on Wroxton Court.
The site is not allowed to be closer than 11 feet of the plaintiffs' property lines — which his clients feel is still too small. Patterson said the site plan, as is, is too big and does not fit on the property.
Under the current city codes, new high-rise structures that are 75 feet or taller need to have a buffer of 30 to 40 feet from single-family home lots that are greater than 3,500 square feet or that are adjacent to or taking access from either a collector street or local street.
However, the Langley site could be grandfathered in to take advantage of the old setback ordinance under the project’s original developers, Houston-based Buckhead Investments. According to the lawsuit, if StreetLights Residential does not comply with the restrictive covenant, then it will need to comply with the 30-foot setback from the plaintiffs’ north property line on the south and east property line.
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